


What You Are In The Dark - A Day in Jan Naidu’s Life

by TheEmpressAR



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Adventure, Band life, College Life, Multi, young adult
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22233229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEmpressAR/pseuds/TheEmpressAR
Summary: This is a story about a day in Jan Nadiu's life right before she finds out that she's going to Italy for the Summer of 1988.  We'll go through her day and all the adventures leading up to her adventure abroad.  Just a character development story for a wonderful OC created by a wonderful author.
Relationships: jan naidu/jimmy (implied)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 2





	1. Kiki

**Author's Note:**

  * For [A_LazyPanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_LazyPanda/gifts).



> Thanks Gia467 for letting me play with this Awesome character! I hope I did her justice! She's a strong independent young woman with a good head on her shoulders and I hope everyone has fun learning about her backstory as I have writing it!
> 
> This work is part of the Cobra Kai Christmas challenge.

What You Are In The Dark - A Day in Jan Naidu’s Life

~⧪~

Kiki

A rustle in the cage next to her got Jan Naidu’s eyes cracking open against the harsh morning sunshine creeping into her window blinds...way before her alarm had a chance to blast out its annoyance telling her another day had begun. 

She always loved starting off with a smile before the snowballing of the day’s events usually had her into one jam after another. She crinkled her nose at the furry grey creature who seemed to be doing the same to her, imitating his whisker twitch and sticking her tongue out at him when he began to chew on some timothy hay in front of him. 

“Kiki...you amazingly fat little thing. You’re just always eating! Yes you are!” 

Jan slowly sat up and stretched. She was dressed in her favorite silk flowered pajama pants and top that was quite comfortable and cool in the heat and cramped status of the tiny flat she shared with her sometimes there, mostly not, roommate Allyson Varner. She had just pulled her feet out of her covers and put them down on the surprisingly cool wooden floor when the ‘what good was it anyway’ alarm finally went off. The blaring sounds of “Never Gonna Give You Up” reverberated around the small room and Jan grimaced and tossed an available slipper at it, knocking it off of her tiny night stand. 

She looked across her room to the other bed and noticed that its inhabitant was still huddled over close to the wall her comforter wrapped tightly around her like a cocoon. She hadn’t as much made a sound other than a shifting deeper into her comforter. 

Jan shook her naturally curly head of hair and gave Allyson a few more minutes. She wasn’t in the mood to “poke the bear” so early in the morning. She opened Kiki’s cage and after only a little chasing around pulled the fat, pearly, lop-eared rabbit from his cage and brought him close to her chest. She loved to snuggle her bunny, and he immediately went to the crook in her neck, his favorite spot to be as she stroked his back and cooed baby words at him. 

“That’s it, my handsome little man. Who’s Mama’s good boy?” She danced around the room with him a little on the way to the equally cramped bathroom they shared down a tiny hall. 

The small one bedroom first floor flat was all they both really could afford living off campus from UCLA. Their Sorority, Alpha Phi had a row of apartment complexes that they could rent and were only afforded to the accelerated students who kept a part-time job while going to class.

Jan really didn’t know Allyson before moving in, but decided it was better to have a roommate than to try and wing it on her own. She had enough on her plate with all of her studies, being the drummer in a band that was trying to make a name for themselves, and working a part-time job at the mall in a retro clothing store called 'Gadzooks'. Allyson got her the job, but on different shifts. Jan was grateful because she didn’t want to spend every waking moment with her. She could be a bit pushy.

The store sold just about everything the rebellious kids of her age were into at the time. She loved working there because the music was the greatest and it was jarring and loud the minute you walked in. She was actually one of the tamer employees that worked there...she did have a reputation to maintain. But when she wore her black eyeliner and teased her hair just right, and wore her bangles and bracelets she fit in perfectly. 

She held Kiki while she brushed her teeth, (a slight juggling act) and did most of her morning routine. She put the bunny close to her face and made faces with him in the mirror and gave him bunny nosed kisses. Kiki remained calm and docile throughout the occasional lift in the air and twirl around the room. He’d grown used to her loving all over him as long as there was breakfast coming soon. 

Kiki was a gift from her parents when she decided that she wanted to be on her own during her college years. Sure, they were in town…less than fifty miles away but it was the distance that made her feel independent, able to live her young adult life and make some of the decisions she wanted to make without their approval or permission. Of course, she relied on them for just about everything, but it felt great to be able to do what she wanted to do when she wanted to do it. She was not irresponsible, in fact quite the opposite...and she loved visiting with her parents every weekend and every chance she got. Kiki was just a small reminder of them and taking care of her rabbit was a way to show them she was a grown young woman and someone to be proud of. 

She went back to her room and put Kiki on her bed after putting down some newspaper and wandered into the kitchen nook to start the pot of coffee that she knew Allyson would desperately crave when she woke up...it was a part of their daily routine and ritual. She grabbed a couple of lettuce leaves from the fridge and a handful of Kiki’s rabbit food and put them on the bed for the rabbit to occupy himself with while she went to get her shower. The lump on the bed had not moved, and Jan knew that it must have been another all nighter for her. She never waited up for Allyson anymore. As long as she saw her the next day she didn’t worry. 

Still wrapped in her towel and a towel around her head, she sat at the tiny desk that was hers on her side of the room and took out her journal. 

  
  


She always struck inspiration in the shower and she had a new idea for a song that she just had to write down before she forgot. She came up with the words and the tune always seemed to follow close behind. Kiki hadn’t moved much from his position on her bed and she smiled at him with a gleam in her eye. “Oh Yes...Baby Boy...This is a good one!” She frantically scribbled down the thoughts swirling in her head and the words left her pen as fast as she could think them out. She couldn’t wait to tell Johnny, David and Jimmy. 


	2. The Roommate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet Jan's roommate, Allyson Varner. I hope she's just a "treat" !!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How's it going?! I'm really enjoying developing this little slice of the world of such an Awesome Story!!

~⧪~

The Roommate

Allyson Varner - Age 24

For the kind of person she was...dark clothes, dark makeup and sometimes equally dark personality, Allyson Varner kept her side of the room clean and white and a style that spoke to who she was as that person. She was usually pretty laid back and easy going but when it came to her stuff and her things and her side of the room, there were clear boundaries. She was going to college on her Daddy's dime and there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for his little girl. She was studying photography and her work wasn't bad. She had submitted her portfolio to several trendy fashion mags and the school paper often sent her on assignments. Her focus this semester was on the black and white aesthetic and fashion icons of the silver screen. She had been playing around with rudimentary Photoshop and was currently incorporating Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe in her work. 

Sleep was either Allyson's best friend or worst enemy...she felt there was far too much life to be had to be wasting it on sleep. She would often push herself until she could finally no longer stand it before crashing hard, usually being the last person at the party to go home, just one more song from the DJ at the club and one more smoke with her new "friend" that she would most likely go home with for the night. Most were college guys...some girls...and maybe a few willing professors after giving scout's honor to keep her pretty blood-red mouth shut. 

“Al…” Jan stood in the doorway. She had changed into her clothes for the day. Stone-washed jeans that stopped at her calves, black suspenders over white button down short-sleeved white blouse and black Chuck Taylor Converse All Stars. Several bracelets, including a silver-studded one, and a hoop earring in one ear a cross earring in the other, nearly completed her accessories. She had the necklace she always wore around her neck securely in place. She would never be seen without it. No matter what she wore. Her black fedora was in her hand, as well as the black trench coat she planned on wearing. She didn’t need them on until she left for class. She tugged a strand of her curly hair and cleared her throat again. Sometimes she hated playing the “mother-figure” to her careless friend. But, she had grown used to her habits and didn’t let it put a crimp in her day. 

  
  


“Al...wake up!”

“Fuck off…” came the grumble from under the all white comforter. 

“With love, right?” 

“Always, Babe.” Jan ducked as a pillow sailed over her head. 

“Class in an hour…” Jan said as she turned and left the room before another pillow made contact. 

\----

Thirty minutes later when Jan was sitting on the couch going over some class notes, Allyson shuffled out of the bedroom. She was wearing an over-sized 'Choose Life' white t-shirt with black lettering and nothing else. Jan hoped at least she had some panties on...there were times. An unlit cigarette was dangling from her lips and she wore a black headband around her messy blond hair. She mumbled incoherently as she moved toward the kitchen. Jan paid her no attention and wrote a few notes in her book as she calmly stroked Kiki. 

“You wouldn’t BELIEVE the night I had…” The clattering of cups from the cabinet and the sound of the coffee pot being removed and the smell of the fresh brew wafted out to the front room. Then the inevitable flick of the Bic she always kept on the counter and Allyson rested her back against the doorframe. 

Most of Allyson’s morning conversations began this way. Jan wished she could just skip this part of the morning chat and move on to what she wanted to talk about. She had some ideas for a couple of new pieces of furniture she’d like to move into the apartment and a few bills had begun to pile up on the hallway table where they kept them. 

As always, Allyson couldn’t be bothered with things like bills or who paid what...she just got the money she needed and somehow they wound up paid. Truthfully, Jan just wanted to talk about anything that didn’t involve boys, sex, who was sleeping with what and what concoction of alcohol got her feeling 'wicked' the night before. 

Allyson moved from her spot in the door jamb and flopped down on the couch way too much in Jan’s personal bubble and flung an arm around her shoulders. “Hey, Toots.” She drank her coffee and blew a cloud of smoke in the general direction away from Jan’s face. Jan still pinched her nose up. She tried smoking a couple of times, but she didn’t like it and it was something her parents disapproved of so she never really took up the habit. The cloud of smoke hung in the air and it always seemed to settle in Jan’s hair. 

Allyson propped her bare leg up on the coffee table. Her toenails were the same shade of blood red as her seemingly permanent shade of lipstick. For once she wasn’t wearing her dark, black sunglasses. Jan had remembered to keep the heavy curtains drawn. In the same corner of the room, a chess board was set up with a couple of chairs in front of it. It was a long running game with Jimmy that she had going and it was his turn next. Jan was thinking of her turn in the back of her mind. 

“You’re thinking again.” 

“Yeah...and?” 

“Well you should try...not...once in a while.” 

“Maybe you should try _it_ sometimes.” Jan looked at her pointedly. Allyson had been absently stroking Kiki’s head with her cigarette hand. 

“Bitch.” 

“You love me.” 

“The jury is still out on that one.” Allyson got up and turned on the radio full blast. Information Society’s ‘What’s On Your Mind’ blared out and she let out a whoop and started moving around the room. She danced up to Jan and smiled down at her. 

“C’mon...let’s dance.” 

“No...Al...we got class and I really gotta get these notes finished. You know we got finals in a month.” 

“That’s a whole month AWAY!!” She picked up Kiki and held him close to her. “That’s ok...I got my man right here...isn’t that right...Kiki Baby?” 

Jan rolled her eyes and closed her book. She wasn’t going to get much accomplished this morning. She leaned back against the couch and watched her friend practice her latest moves around their living/dining/kitchen/area only getting nervous when she dipped her rabbit one time too many. 

“Al...you’re gonna make him sick.” Jan tugged nervously at her hair. 

“Loosen up, Jannette! You’re always so uptight!” 

On the first point, Jan hated being called by a name that Allyson assumed was her full name, even though it wasn’t and on the second point, Allyson knew she hated it and called her that at least ten times a day. 

“I’m not uptight...Al _vin_...I just don’t want to have a dead rabbit and have to explain to my folks that my roommate was using him as a jive dance partner.” 

“You know what you need right?” Allyson said, ignoring her as always. The air was heavy with all the smoke puffing from her almost finished cigarette and her practically doing aerobics around the coffee table. 

“Lemmie guess.” Jan rolled her eyes again and finished the sentence that inevitably followed. 

“You need to get laid.” They both finished at the same time. 

Allyson finally worn out, plopped back down on the couch and handed Kiki back to Jan. She was breathing hard and reached for another cig from the pack on the coffee table. 

“Hand me my lighter…” She reached with her red lacquered claw-like fingernails out to Jan who scrabbled behind her without looking, by the lamp and tossed her another ever present Bic. “You know I’m right.” 

“For the hundredth time...I am completely fine the way that I am. Who I am. I’m not on the desperate search for someone to get into my pants. I like my pants the way they are just fine.” 

“Yeah...but Babe...you don’t understand...just the feeling of someone’s hands on you...taking you away from all of your troubles...just for a little while.” 

“I like my ‘troubles’ thank you very much. And I do what I do in that department without critique from nosy roommates.” 

“Well you know I feel for you Toots...you got all of those available hot men at your fingertips...beating on your door...and here you sit. They call you ‘Deep Freeze’ behind your back, you know.” 

“They call me that for other reasons, Al…”

“Yeah...yeah. Speaking of which...What is the latest on that sexy hot dreamboat lover boy in your band. He hasn’t been by in a long time.” Allyson got up on her knees on the couch and stared up at the ceiling.

“You mean, David? He’s been wanting a date with you for a while.” Jan teased and laughed when Al pulled a ‘no way’ face.

“Ugh...Gashi? You’ve got to be shitting me! You know who I’m talking about...I want those baby blues looking into mine like YESTERDAY!” 

“You know damn well why he doesn’t ‘stop by’ ...at least while you’re around.” Jan pushed her on the shoulder and got up to put Kiki back in his cage in the living room. 

“Awwww...!! What’s Ole Johnny-kins got against this body...Look at me...I ask you!” 

“It’s more he knows that you want him against _this_ body…” Jan indicated Allyson as she pulled her up from her spot on the couch. 

“Can he help it if he’s just the sexiest man on campus?? Life goals...I swear...he will be mine! That blonde hair...those pecs.. You know I’ve seen him at the gym pool. Don’t get me started on the speedo.” Allyson continued to gush. Jan didn’t even know where the conversation was going but if she didn’t do something quickly, she knew she’d be coerced into trying to get Johnny to go out with her before the sentence finished. 

“Al...AL...snap out of it. C’mon...get your clothes on. I’m not going to be late for you again this time. You gotta drop me off.” She was still at the mercy of Allyson and her little FIAT X1/9. A Christmas present from Daddy. 

“You promised you’d ask him for me.” 

“I said I would try.” 

“What about Jimmy?” 

“What _about_ Jimmy?” 

“Well you know...maybe we could double...so it wouldn’t be weird...until it did get weird...you know with my hands all over that blonde god and you two watching us go at it…well…like rabbits.” Allyson laughed at her joke and nodded at Kiki. Without another word took off her shirt and tossed it in the corner of the room. It was always a mini-shock to Jan, but after the thousandth time of that happening...it didn’t even cause a flinch. At least she had her panties on. The rest...well...she was used to it. Allyson danced off to the bedroom to get her clothes on and fix her hair and make-up. 

Another fifteen minutes of Jan banging on the bathroom door and frantically pacing the room looking at the bus schedule and Allyson emerged in all her “Material Girl” glory. To say she idolized Madonna was a no brainer. She had her look on point. Every. Single. Day. Down to her trademark beauty mark, which she penciled in religiously. Her hair teased up and headband in place, her black sunglasses, her bangle bracelets and large earrings, white-laced finger-less gloves were always a part of her daily gear. She was wearing a white dress with tutu over black leggings and a crimson belt with her camo jacket and army boots. Jan had to admit. If there was a contest, Allyson had it, hands-down. 

“How do I look, Kid?” 

“Like you’ve seen one too many Papa Don’t Preach, videos. Let’s go!” 

“Perfect!” 

Jan opened the door and halted in her tracks. Allyson almost bumped into her back, catching her cig before it landed in Jan’s hair. “Jan...what the?” 

Outside the communal hallway stood two boys. One looking cocky and arrogant...a sneer curled his lip and his eyebrow was raised in expectation. The other boy looked around him nervously. He was darting his eyes up and down the hallway as if expecting the RA to show up at any time for one of their monitored inspections of the property. They didn’t tolerate what was about to happen at any time and could be expelled from UCLA if found out or caught. 

“C’mon Eddie...hurry up!” 

“Naidu...you down?” 

Allyson came from around Jan’s side and looked at the boys over her shades. She gave Jan a knowing look...and smiled ruefully at the boys. “Your funeral.” She said under her breath blowing smoke at them both and heading toward the hall door. 

“Looks like I’m gonna be late to class after all...Al.” 

“Leave it to me, Babe.” 

“You’re a gem.” 

“I know.” 

  
  


Jan undid a couple of buttons on the blouse of her white shirt and grabbed the arrogant boy by the hand and pulled him in...walking backwards, making sure the other one followed and closed the door behind him. “You got your money?” 


End file.
